New York Republicans Introducing Resolution to Expel George Santos From Congress

Some members of Santos' own party want the embattled lawmaker out of Congress

A group of New York Republicans announced today that they'll introduce a resolution seeking to expel embattled Rep. George Santos  from Congress.

In a statement posted to X, New York Rep. Anthony D’Esposito wrote, "Today, I’ll be introducing an expulsion resolution to rid the People’s House of fraudster, George Santos."

D'Esposito added that the resolution will be co-sponsored New York Reps. Nick LaLota, Mike Lawler, Nick Langworthy, Marcus Molinaro and Brandon Williams. All of the sponsors of the resolution are, like Santos, Republican freshman lawmakers.

While many lawmakers have called on Santos to resign, this marks the first GOP-led effort to force him to do so.

The introduction of the resolution comes one day after prosecutors announced they had added 10 new charges to an indictment of 35-year-old Santos, bringing the total number of criminal counts against him to 23.

The new charges — which were announced by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Tuesday — include allegations of conspiracy to commit offenses through creating materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and aggravated identity theft.

Related: Unpacking the George Santos Indictment, from Abusing Unemployment to Using Campaign Funds for Designer Clothes

According to Tuesday's statement, the freshman Congressman allegedly stole people’s identities and then charged his donors’ credit cards without their authorization, often for personal gain. Additionally, Santos allegedly falsified records, created and submitted false campaign reports that listed non-existent loans, and fabricated and stole campaign contributions.

Prosecutors argue that this includes one incident in which Santos allegedly charged $12,000 to a campaign contributor’s credit card and then transferred a large portion of that $12,000 into his personal bank account.

In addition to the charges to the Contributor’s credit card, the prosecutors also alleged that a $500,000 loan Santos said he gave to his campaign was a fake.

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The new charges follow 13 other counts leveled against the New York lawmaker in May after an investigation into his financial disclosures and alleged false claims while running for Congress.

The initial 13-count indictment included seven charges of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.

Santos pleaded not guilty to all of the initial 13 counts. Subsequently, in September, prosecutors disclosed in court papers that Santos was in plea talks with the U.S. government, as reported by The New York Times.

Related: Rep. George Santos Arrested on Charges of Fraud, Money Laundering, Theft of Public Funds and False Statements

But this week, Santos indicated he has no plans to reach a plea deal with prosecutors, and that — despite the investigations — he plans to run for reelection in 2024.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday near his Washington, D.C. office, Santos said, “I’m going to continue to fight this as much as I said in the past. Nothing has changed."

“I think I’ve made it clear that I will fight this to prove my innocence. So yeah, I’m pretty much denying every last bit of charges," he added, per CNN.

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